By Hannah Caver, Staff Writer
TRUSSVILLE — The City of Trussville approved an ordinance on Tuesday, December 28, authorizing the billing of reinspection fees to owners and occupants of commercial structures who fail to correct violations of the fire prevention code.
According to the proclamation presented to the council members, the ordinance is an adoption of the International Fire Code promulgated by the International Code Council and the Life Safety Code published by the National Fire Protection Association with respect to structures in the City of Trussville.
Mayor Buddy Choat explained that before the ordinance, when the Fire Marshal’s Office would cite an establishment for breaking one of the codes during the reinspection if the code was still broken, there was no way to reinforce the code.
“By law or by ordinance, we didn’t have any way to make them do all that,” Choat said. “We could have pulled their business license and shut them down. But, we don’t want to do that; we just want it’s all about public safety.”
The City of Trussville’s Fire Marshal’s Office conducts inspections on commercial structures within the city to ensure compliance with the fire prevention code, as well as all applicable National Fire Protection Association Codes, International Code Council Codes, and City Ordinances.
Related Story: Trussville City Council approved rezoned properties, amended business license classification and fees
The proclamation states that the adoption of this Ordinance concerning the billing of inspection fees for fire official services arising from failures by owners and users of commercial structures to correct violations of the fire prevention code will promote the public safety, health, and general welfare of all citizens by promoting compliance with that code and permitting recovery of expenses incurred by the fire official.
Choat said this is a way for the city to ensure that the fire codes are met for safety precautions.
“When the fire marshal goes in there and inspects if they haven’t fixed the violation now we have a way to get their attention monetarily,” Choat said. “It’s a small amount of money, and it’s not even about the money; it’s a public safety thing.”
If, in the course of a fire safety inspection, the fire official identifies a violation of the fire prevention code at a commercial structure, that official may:
- Furnish notice of such violation to the owner or occupant of that structure;
- Instruct either of them to correct said violation on or before a date specified in that notice;
- Advise either of them that the official will make a subsequent visit to the structure on or about that date to verify that the violation identified in the initial notice of violation has been corrected, and
- Further advise either of them that, if correction of the violation of the fire prevention code is not completed by the stated date of the subsequent visit, the city will charge the owner or occupant, and they will be obligated to pay the city for each visit to the structure that the fire official may make after the date specified in the initial notice of violation to verify compliance.
Description Fee | (in dollars) |
Reinspection fee for fire official services | $100 for first and second Reinspection |
Reinspection fee for fire official services | $250 for each Reinspection thereafter |
After the fourth reinspection fee, a Summons to court will be issued to the property owner and/or occupant, and the business license shall be suspended until all violations can be corrected. Failure to pay the “Reinspection fee for fire official services” within a period of 30 calendar days will result in a Summons to court for a “failure to pay” violation.